Feeding mechanism for sewing-machines.



N0. 668,4]4. Patented Feb.,l9, I90l, B. PIERPONT.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

(Application filed May 22, 1900.) (N u M o d e I.)

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ROBERT PIERPONT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWlNG-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 668,414, dated February 19, 1901.

Application filed May 22, 1900. Serial No. 17,529. (No model.)

To 00 whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT PIERPONT, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Feeding Devices for Sewing- Machines; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure 1, a view in side elevation of a sewing-machine containing my invention; Fig. 2, a front view of my improved feeding device; Fig. 3, a broken front view of the frame, showing the feed-plate bearing-surface and the feed-plate boss; Fig. 4, a detached view, in front elevation, of the feed-plate.

My invention relates to an improvement in feeding devices for sewing-machin es, the object being to secure the widest range of adjustment in the length of the stitch by the simplest and most compact construction of feeding device.

WVith these ends in view my invention consists in a feeding device having certain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

In carrying out my invention I employ a vertically-arranged feed-plate A, provided at its upper end with an integrally-form ed arm B, constituting the cloth-feed and toothed or roughened to adapt it to engage with the cloth. Toward its upper end the plate A is formed with a cam-opening C, the rear portion of which is shaped to form a cam-surface C to coact with the operatingcam D, which is mounted upon the projecting forward end of the driving-shaft F of the machine. A washer G, also applied to the projecting end of the said shaft, bears against the outer face of the feed-plate and holds the same against a raised feed-plate bearing-surface I-I, formed upon the frame of the machine, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The extreme forward end of the shaft is provided with a hook or looper I of any approved construction. The lower end of the feed-plate is formed with a verticallyarranged open notch J, receiving a screw K, entering a boss L, formed upon the frame of the machine and constituting a bearing for the lower end of the plate which is held against the boss by the head of the screw on which the plate has a compound oscillatory and vertical movement. For the purpose of holding the cam-surface C of the cam-opening C of the plate against the cam I) or in position to be acted upon by the cam I employ a spring H, booked at one end through an opening a in the plate and hooked at its other end around a pin a in the frame of the machine, the central portion of the spring being wound to form one or more coils which encircle the boss L, before mentioned. As thus arranged the spring exerts a constant effort to swing the plate forward toward the front of the machine. For the purpose of adjusting the plate I employ an adjusting-lever N, having a camsurface N, hung eccentric-ally upon a clamping-screw 0, having a knurled head 0, lo-

cated in a lug H forming an extension of the raised bearing-surface H, before mentioned. The cam-surface N of the said lever is thus brought into position to coact with the front edge of the upper end of the feed-plate, the forward movement of which under the action of the spring 11 it limits. If the said adj usting-lever is turned down into the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, it will clear the feed-plate altogether and allow the spring H to act upon the plate and maintain the entire cam-surface C thereof in engagement with the cam D, whereby the full action of the cam D upon the plate will be obtained and the longest stitch within the capacity of the device secured; but if the cam-surface C of the lever C is brought into engagement with the feed-plate by raising the lever so as to push the plate rearwardly and prevent it from receiving the entire thrust of the operating-cam D then the stitch will be shortened. The extent to which the stitch will be shortened will of course depend upon the extent'to which the lever is raised and the plate is pushed inward.

It will thus be seen that by an extremely simple and compact device I am enabled to accurately adj ust the machine for varying the length of the stitch within a range Wide enough to satisfy all of the ordinary requirements of sewing-machines.

I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction herein shown and described, but hold myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a feeding device for sewing-machines, the combination with a frame formed with a raised, feed-plate bearing-surface, extended at its forward end to form a projecting lug, and also formed with a boss located directly below the said snrface,of a vertically arranged oscillatory and vertically-movable feed-plate riding upon the said bearing-surface and upon the said boss, and at its upper end with a cam opening containin ga cam-surface,and formed at its lower end with a slot receiving a screwstud which holds the lower end of the plate against the said boss, an operatingcam connected with the driving-shaft of the machine and located within the said cam-opening of the feed-plate, a spring connected with the said feed-plate, encircling the said boss, tending to move the cam-surface of the cam-opening of the plate toward the said operatingcam, and held upon the said boss by the slotted lower end of the feed-plate and the said screw, and an adjusting-lever pivoted to the said projecting'lug of the feed-plate bearingsurface in position to engage with the feedplate to limit its movement under the action of the said spring.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses ROBERT PIERPONT Witnesses:

FRED. O. EARLE, LILLIAN D. KELSEY. 

